Saturday, June 27, 2009

Alaric's wound was a result of an argument with the mercenaries. Interpreting Wahleed's command to "stay together" as a command to stop the mercenaries from moving the camp to the forest. When he protested, they shot him in the leg. The party returned and restored order among the hirelings, then noticed that Hren and Charles were gone - they had gone into the woods to find some game.

As Wahleed remonstrated the guards for attacking the magic-user, as well as allowing the group to separate, the rest of the party began to discuss the strange book they had found in the tomb. Now that they had a little more time, Hinda sat and studied the markings on the cover and spine of the strange volume. After a few moments of study, she began to find patterns in the strange spidery script that she remembered from her years abroad... something about the spider goddess...

In a flash,Hinda remembered where she had seen these markings before. It was the Book of The Dead, written by the goddess Shaku, goddess of death and mistress of spiders. The book was dictated to a coterie of mad clerics nearly 300 years ago. Each of the clerics made a single copy, sending them out into the world to spread the glory of their goddess to all the lands. Hinda informed the group that the book was an item of incalculable evil, a vile tome of a hideous god.

Meatwad saw opportunity in this find, believing that the item's rarity made it valuable. Sale of the book could give the party the funds they needed to set up the mining operation needed to get the platinum out of the mine. Alaric was in agreement, though he cautioned that finding a buyer would be difficult, since no one would want the public at large to know they were interested in such a find.

Wahleed carefully weighed the options, finally deciding that the item could not be safely left behind, nor could the group keep it in good conscience. They would need to hold on to it long enough to find a person who could destroy it.

As the discussion continued, Hinda took the book over to the cart and fished out the Bag of Holding that had belonged to Ielenia. Just as she was about to place book inside, the earth began to rumble, and creatures long-dead erupted from the ground, crawling toward the cart.

With a cry, Aleena leaped from the cart, tackling the closest animated skeleton to Wahleed. As she struck the foul creature feebly on its face, the rest of the party moved to engage the rest of the pack.

The fight was short - between the mercenaries, the party, and the surprisingly bold but futile actions of Aleena, the skeletons were overmatched. Wiping bone marrow and filth from their weapons, the party decided to double the guard for the evening, and decide what to do next.